Be The Change

I have been in a rather strange place this week.  Whenever I arrive in this place, I watch.  I become that person on Facebook who just see's.  I become the lady in the store who watches the people around her, not out of fear, but out of curiosity.  If that makes sense...

My heart hurts for the mass shootings that have occurred in our world this past month.  My heart pains for the innocents who have had to endure the fear and violence that so many selfish human beings have brought to their front door.

I want to believe most people on our beautiful Earth feel the same way as I do.  I want to believe anyone I know wants this madness to end.

I have these ginormous feelings inside me right now and I have so much on my mind that I am afraid what I say will not make an ounce of sense.  Bear with my maddening speech as I sift through my thoughts.

Naturally, human beings tend to want to help one another.  Right?  I see it all over the place and it makes my soul feel connected to the rest of you nutty humans.

Take one of our current world events which has many scrambling to create a safe haven for the Syrian refugees.  I have listened to arguments on both sides about the refugees.  Take them in... Save them... Help them out... Turn them away... Don't trust them... It isn't our problem.

Ughhhhh... I hate it when others say it is not our problem.  Of course it is our problem.  We are all in this together.  Look around you... none of us our getting out of this life alive, so we might as well make this world better for everyone who comes after us.  This giant rock hurdling through space is OUR problem, including everything and everyone on it.

However, I do not completely agree with bringing in the Syrian refugees.  The biggest and most significant reason... Trojan horse anyone.  Are we really that gullible?

These terrorists are not a fucking joke.  They aren't stupid either.

I would love to help out the refugees who are truly running for their lives.  I would stand with them and I would be their ally.  However, I will be the first to turn them away if it puts my family and my friends at risk.  I love those knuckleheads too much to be outsmarted by murderers and rapists and human beings who have lost their connection with us as a whole.

Am I being unreasonable?  Maybe.

But there has to be another way.

My heart goes out to the people who are suffering through this.  I wish I knew the answers.  I wish I had a way to make this work for everyone.

That being said... what can we do?

What options do we have?

Do we really take the chance that these terrorists won't sneak in with the refugees?

Me... I have always believed human beings are innately good.  I have always believed most everyone can be saved from being a monster.  I want to believe the best in everyone I meet, but am I living in a fairy tale?  Life has proven to me that humans are greedy and selfish and although many work hard in being better, there are many more who do not care.  Seeing that proof with my own two eyes makes this situation difficult.

I am not religious.  I do not believe Jesus was my savior.  I do not believe anyone was my savior.  However, I am spiritual and I am a humanist.  I believe in treating others the way you would want to be treated AND furthermore, I believe in treating others the way THEY would want to be treated.  

Being the season of the holidays regardless of belief, it brings to the surface the idea that we as human beings have the ability to be giving... to be loving... to be connected... to be ONE.  We are all here.  We HAVE to figure out this problem together and stop relying on our corrupted governments to make the decisions for us.

Evolving our way of thinking is not only a necessity, but a priority.

WE are ONE.  We are all connected.  It is not a hard concept to wrap your mind around.  We deserve to stop fighting amongst ourselves.  We deserve to stand up and be the powerful and awesome human beings we are capable of being.

Let's celebrate our differences, instead of fight about them.  Who cares what religion, what nationality, what race, what gender, etc. a person is.  The number one thing I care about is how you treat me.  Dr. Robert Michaels says it so eloquently:

“When you leave this school and go onto bigger and better things, and your life becomes the life of an adult with adult ideas about social justice, and you have to have that inner peace — the kind of tranquility of mind where you can say, ’I don’t care if you’re black, white, straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, short, tall, fat, skinny, rich or poor. If you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you.’ You will find that the difference between a happy life and a life of bitterness and struggle can be as simple as that, my friends, and that is a lesson I will leave you with today.” [Robert Michaels MD – 2007 – Graduation Speaker- Name of school withheld]

My questions above are still valid questions.  I am wanting to evolve my own thinking and I am always open to intelligent discussions.  "Intelligent" being the key word.  If it drops down to being an asshole, I am no longer interested in what a person has to say.

We all have the ability to be better.  Even the assholes.

XXXX - Niki